You Found Me
by Mister Don Johnny Cadet Sir
Summary: Taruru has been pulled yet into another crazy scheme by his childhood friend Karara. Is this plan... maybe going a little too far, though? / "You found me, when no one else was looking... how did you know just where I would be?"
1. Chapter 1

__

Clusters of roses.

Or, as close as roses as you can get in a foreign planet.

Pink, yellow, red. He had pricked his skin several times climbing through. The small, thin gashes on his face made it evident, but he didn't care.

How come something so beautiful had to be so painful at the same time? 

* * *

It was going to rain soon; he could smell it. Gray clouds were drifting in tufts, scattered across the sky like slow moving marbles. The air seemed denser than usual as well, but he didn't mind. It felt good.

Taruru entered the mansion's gates, fingering the sprouting leaves that popped out from the sides. After looking over his reflection from a clear window, he knocked his knuckles against the door.

It creaked open, and a balding Keronian popped his head out.

"Ah, Mister Taruru," the butler said tiredly. "I didn't think we were expecting you."

"You guys weren't," the blue private responded slowly. "I just had the day off today and I thought that, you know, I come and say hi to Karara?"

The butler hesitated over this, and Taruru slightly dropped his shoulders in protest.

"C'mon! I've been her friend since we were kids; I can't drop by and see her every once in a while?"

"Well, it's not that, it's more like-"

"No! Absolutely not!"

Something shattered.

The man looked exasperated. "...Perhaps you can snap some sense into her, then. None of us were able to."

Taruru perked a quizzical brow to him. "What do you mean?"

"Just... come in. We'll show you."

Taruru shrugged and followed the aging butler inside, looking around the mansion as he did so. It was so strange; everything was as exactly as he remembered it. Sure, he had visited time and time again, but even before, when he had first come inside these "palace walls", as he would call it, it was exactly the same. Every vase was in position, every frame was tucked carefully on the wall.

Another crash broke him from his thoughts.

"Is that Karara?" he asked dubiously.

The man nodded soberly.

"Why?"

"Another arranged marriage proposal. This time her father is insistent."

"Ah." That answered everything. She tended to be a bit... well, animated when she disagreed with an idea. He sighed, a goofy grin on his face. Just like her. It was almost assuring to see that she hadn't much changed.

"Ms. Karara, you have a visitor."

The green Keronian, her eyes dotted with tears, jumped, a lamp over her head in a beginning toss. "Taruru?"

"Hi," he waved, smiling widely. "Miss me?"

Karara pouted, putting the lamp down. "It was about time you came and saw me!"

Taruru held up his hands defensively. "Hey, hey! I was busy! I've been sending you emails and letters from time to time, though, right?"

The girl sniffed slightly. "Yeah, I guess."

The light blue Keronian glanced over his shoulder, relaxing when he saw that the butler had left them alone, and walked up to her. "Hey. What's going on?"

"Daddy wants me to get married again," she whined. "Why?"

"Well," Taruru mused, looking around himself. "Maybe 'cuz you still live with him?"

"Funny," she retorted dryly.

"Any luck marrying off Chiroro?"

"He wants me to get married first, 'cuz, you know, I'm the oldest." Karara glared out the window.

Taruru would never say this aloud, but he thought she made the cutest face when she was angry. It was impossible for her to have a fight with him, because he would only grin at her screams and protests. There have been times when the two got into genuine arguments, yes, but he always apologized, even if it was her fault- and she would too.

After watching her for a moment, he glanced at one of her many little dolls against the drawer and hummed, "You know what I think?"

"What."

"I think we should go out and have some ice cream."

Karara rubbed her eyes. "I like ice cream."

"What are we waiting for, then?"

* * *

_  
"Taruru!" Young Chiroro was panic-stricken. Tears streaked down her face in worry. "We can't find Karara." She grabbed his hand. "You have to help us!"_

He certainly wasn't expecting this. Hadn't he been invited just a few hours ago to come and play? Why was she hiding? "What's going on? Hide and Go Seek?"

"No!" the younger sister said in weak exasperation. "I...I don't know!" Her eyes doubled in water and she began sobbing into her hands. "Please, Taruru. Please, just help us."

* * *

"If I didn't know better," Taruru snickered after Karara licked her strawberry-flavored ice cream, "I'd think we were a couple, looking at us right now."

"Don't be a creep, Taruru," Karara muttered.

"Hey, it's just a thought!" He laughed. "You don't think we look good together?"

"Maybe I do, but you don't."

"Ouch!"

She smiled a little at this before going back to her ice cream.

"Did you get to see what the guy looks like?" Taruru asked, leaning against his seat.

"I did."

"And?"

Karara crumpled her face at the thought. "Not my type."

"He could be rich, good-looking and kind and he still wouldn't be your type," Taruru quipped. He examined his chocolate chip-blueberry-raspberry-licorice flavored combo before taking a contemplative lick. "What is your type?"

Truthfully, he was a little afraid of the answer, but he wanted to know. Needed to know, actually. He stared at Karara, watching her carefully consider and formulate her response.

He was disappointed when all he got was a shrug.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just waiting for the right guy, that's all," she said dismissively.

"Hm."

"Daddy says this is the last straw, though."

"Oh?" Taruru looked back up at her. "So he's putting his foot down with this marriage."

"Yes," Karara said flatly.

"I'm not sure who to feel bad for; you or your future husband."

"Shut up!" Karara giggled, her eyes twinkling. "I'm sure I could talk him out of it, but..."

She fell silent.

Taruru scratched his nonexistent nose. "Maybe... you should... marry me?"

These words caught her off guard. She snapped her head toward Taruru, her eyes widening slightly in confusion. He looked away, really embarrassed. It had started out as a joke, but as he finished the question, he found himself ending it on a very strong note. He was surprised he had even asked it in the first place.

"Ignore me-"

"No, that's a great idea!"

"Wait. What?"

Karara had that look in her eye.

Uh, oh.

"What?" Taruru repeated, slower. He wasn't sure he liked the expression she was giving him- it almost looked like she wanted to eat him somehow.

"Marry me! Or at least, pretend to," Karara added to be clear. "That way daddy could finally leave me alone."

The light blue Keronian continued to blink leisurely at her, carefully processing the information. Wait. Did she just seriously consider-? No, no. He relaxed a little. "Another scheme, Karara?"

"Oh, c'mon!" she whined slightly. "It'll be like old times! And this will be the last big favor I ever ask of you! I promise!"

Taruru uncomfortably turned his ice cream cone in his hands, watching it slide down against the rim before dripping down and splattering against his fingers.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her finally, raising the bottom of his eye slightly. "I mean... what would be the point of marrying me? Just to get your dad to stop pressuring you to find a husband?"

"Oh, it won't be real," Karara told him dismissively. "We could move into our own place with the money daddy will give me, you could stay with your platoon, and I could do whatever I want. Everyone's happy, see?"

He bit his lower lip. "Uh, here's the thing, Karara. What'll happen if you like, I don't know, find a guy who's actually interested in you that you like?"

"Well," Karara shrugged again."Like I said before, it won't be _real._ But I guess if we want to really pull it off for my dad, we _could_ actually sign documents and have a wedding- oh, Taruru! Let's do that! For fun! It'll be like when we played dress-up and pretend!"

"Documents the real thing though, right? That still didn't answer my-"

"But that's what divorces are for, aren't they?" Karara's eyes grew wide with excitement, and she had her usual glowing and glittering trademark around her. "Oh, please, Taruru! Please oh please oh please~! I'm afraid that one of these days daddy will just force me to have the marriage before we could do anything about it! And what about my true love? He's still waiting for me out there! I can't just get married to the wrong guy! Please, Taruru, you have to help me."

"Uh..." Taruru wasn't very smart, but even he saw a whole bunch of potential flaws to this plan. However, seeing the pleading look on her face melted any doubts that were beginning to take seed in his brain. He gave her a cocky smile. "Sure. Why not. It'll be a cool story to tell the Lieutenant, too."

"Oh, yay!" Karara squealed, lunging forward and giving Taruru an affectionate squeeze. "I knew you would do it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Watch, it'll be sooo much fun! And plus, it could probably teach me how to be a housewife. Like playing house over again!"

"Though I won't be the dog this time," Taruru reminded her cheerfully. While he was glad he was able to make her happy, singular thoughts kept bubbling up and resurfacing into his brain.

And a rather... confusing question kept appearing, as well, though he didn't know why.

_What about me?_

* * *

_  
So beautiful, so sharp._

Is clasping one into your hand worth the pain?

_To Be Continued_

* * *

**Author's Note: So yeah, Johnny's here. Writing another story I probably won't finish. Again. Sorry guys, lack of inspiration. **

**And plus, I actually learned to really love this couple to the point where it's now in my list of top five favorite pairings. I think it's because it's so underrated; you can have a whole bunch of drama and comedy with these guys and it could be excused because, you know, they're ****_teenagers_****, so I think it'll be an interesting story to write about. Who knows, I might actually finish it XD**

**I also apologize if it feels rushed. I didn't mean to. Let's just hope that it slows down the next couple of chapters. Man, I can't wait to write this out XD**


	2. Chapter 2

Taruru felt immensely uncomfortable entering the large gates of the mansion, following after Karara as she skipped ahead and urged him to hurry up. She wanted to "break the news" to her father as quickly as possible in order to cancel the previous engagements with the last proposal.

Taruru wondered if her father would have possibly suspected what they were up to, or if he would be annoyed that she chose to "marry" someone who wasn't as wealthy or groomed to be passed on her father's estate to. Or something.

He also wondered if her father would refuse to let the wedding go on.

"Daddy!" Karara slammed open the doors, startling her father, who seemed to be in the middle of a phone call.

"Karara," he frowned, covering the speaker. "Can't this wait?"

"How long?"

Dobaba frowned in disapproval and rolled his eyes slightly. "I'll call you back in a moment. Yes, yes, I'm sorry." He sighed quietly and hung up the phone. "This better be important, Karara."

"This is!" the girl folded her arms triumphantly. "I'm not going to let you marry me off to Munene!"

Taruru inwardly winced. _Munene?_ The guy was the head of a _diamond company._ One of the wealthiest men on Keron. How could he possibly compare to someone like that?

"Oh, not this again," Dobaba furrowed his brows. "We went through this, Karara. The wedding is going to go on whether you like it or n-"

"It's _not,_ because I'm marrying Taruru!"

Dobaba's eyes widened. "Taruru." He leaned back against his chair and turned to look at the blue Keronian, who didn't know what to do so he just waved. "When..." The father slightly waved his hand back before looking back at his daughter. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, daddy, daddy," Karara made a long, dramatic sigh, "I've always been secretly in love with Taruru. Ever since we were children. I just didn't know it. And then today when he visited me, he was drunk and he asked me to marry him."

"Wait, I- _what_?"

"See, he doesn't even remember," she shook her head slightly as her father watched on in amusement. "But he revealed his true feelings to me there! So, I accepted it! Thus, I just cannot- _I cannot, daddy_- marry that other man."

"Okay."

"I- huh?" Karara stopped her over-dramatization of whatever weird speech she had in her head and snapped her eyes over to Dobaba. "Did- did you just say okay?"

"Of course," Dobaba said, shrugging. "I just wanted to marry you off. And young as he is, he still has quite a number of accomplishments, you know. First class private of the Garuru Platoon- you know he'll only begin to rank higher as he gets older. Plus, he'll last longer than some of the other potential husbands I suggested before. It works out." He stacked his papers neatly at the corner of his desk. "I'll already begin the arrangements for the wedding- you won't mind if it's a few days from now, right?- and cancel the last proposal from Munene."

"A few days?" A trickle of sweat appeared on Taruru's cheek. "Why so quickly?"

"So she doesn't change her mind. The sooner the better anyway."

Wow, what a great father.

"But... but doesn't it take a long time to plan a wedding out?" Karara asked him.

"Don't worry about it. I've already had it planned out since the first time I tried marrying you off."

"You're joking," Karara said flatly.

"You do tend to change your mind fairly quickly, sweetie," her father told her. He then looked at Taruru. "I trust you to take care of my little girl. You think you can do that?"

Taruru suddenly felt bad that he was lying to him about this whole charade. "Yeah, I think I can."

"Good." Dobaba picked up his phone again, before pausing and then looking at the "couple". "Where would you like your honeymoon?"

"Honeymoon?" Taruru and Karara repeated, blinking at him awkwardly.

"Yes, somewhere so that you two can..." Dobaba cleared his throat. "...Get comfortable with each other. You know, get used to living together."

"Ah." Taruru rubbed his arm, and then looked at the green Keronian. "Um. We don't have to have a honeymoon. Sir."

"Nonsense! You can't have a wedding without having a honeymoon!"

"How about a beach house, then?" Karara interrupted, just wanting to get this whole thing over with. "But only for a few days! So Taruru could go back to work in his platoon."

"Thinking of your husband's career?" Dobaba rose his brows. "I must say. This is the first time you ever acted on an unselfish whim, Karara."

_Ouch._ Taruru looked at Karara sympathetically, but she ignored him.

"Of course," she said, a tight smile on her lips. "Because I _love_ Taruru. Right... honey?"

"R-right," the freckled Keronian said as he stiffly looped his arm around her.

"_Stop touching me,_" Karara whispered.

Taruru pretended that was a stretch instead and pulled his arms back.

This was going to be such an awkward marriage.

* * *

_"Karara hasn't come out to eat either?"_

"No."

Taruru stepped inside the mansion after Chiroro. The servants were scrambled about, looking under furniture, peeking over the large curtains, reaching their hands inside large pots that could easily fit a small tadpole.

"Why is she hiding?"

"Dad yelled at her."

"Oh." Taruru was quiet for a moment. "...How long has she been gone?"

"Since last night."  


* * *

"Aloha!" Chiroro said, flinging her (still attached) arm in the air in a salute. She had a large box of popcorn in her free hand, and offered some to Karara. "Hey Taruru! Want some?"

"No thanks," Taruru said with a small grin. "Not very hungry right now."

"Where have you been?" Karara demanded. "You missed out on a lot of stuff!"

"I got sidetracked!" the yellow Keronian grinned. "I can't tell you how, though. I've been sworn to secrecy-"

"Tororo," Taruru and Karara said unanimously.

"You didn't hear it from me, so he can't blame me." She gave them a toothy giggle and popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

"You know that one guy dad wanted me to marry?" Karara asked her sister casually, taking a piece of popcorn herself.

"Yeah?"

"Not happening anymore."

"How did you talk him out of it? He sounded pretty serious this mor-"

"I'm marrying Taruru instead."

Chiroro started choking. Taruru and Karara stared at her for a moment, watching her give herself CPR to dislodge the core out of her throat. She coughed and gasped for air. "_Gee! Thanks for the help, guys._"

'You were doing a pretty good job on your own," Taruru said with a small, apologetic smile.

"Don't change the subject!" Chiroro turned to Karara accusingly. "You're marrying_Taruru?_ When did you two suddenly become an item? And why didn't you tell me?"

"First of all, we aren't an item," Karara corrected her. "It's only a huge elaborate setup to get dad to leave me alone."

"Typical, but ingenious, I'll give you that."

"Secondly, you were too busy swapping spit with Tororo to see what was going on, so you can't blame me there."

"I'm not denying that." Chiroro's lips curled to humorous grin that infectiously carried over to Taruru.

He definitely had something to blackmail Tororo with later.

"Oh!" Karara gazed at her sister. "We're going to have the wedding in a couple of days, so... do you want to be my maid of honor?"

"Sure!"

"You should start looking for a best man, Taruru," the green Keronian instructed her best-friend-turned-husband-to-be.

"I already have someone in mind." Taruru glanced at the clock. "Speaking of which, I should probably head over to my platoon to tell them what's going on."

"Don't tell them it's not real," Karara said seriously. "Just tell them what my dad knows; that we're getting married because we love each other."

"And because I was drunk at the time," Taruru added dryly. When Chiroro gave him a bewildered glance, he frowned. "Speaking of which, why did you say that? I wasn't drunk."

"It's to make my dad more sympathetic when we get a divorce," Karara shrugged. "Because you weren't exactly in your right state of mind when you asked me, he'll probably think it wasn't meant to be in the first place."

Taruru's face almost fell enough for the girls to notice. "...Ah."

* * *

"Hey guys!" the private called out, hopping inside the ship. Tororo was playing checkers with Zoruru, and from the looks of intense concentration from both their faces, Taruru was amused to see that they were locked in combat. Garuru was nearby with Pururu, going over some paperwork with her. They were the only ones who looked up in regards to the young soldier.

"Hello," Pururu said pleasantly. "How was your visit with your friend?"

"I'm getting married."

"What?" Tororo shot his head to Taruru, and Zoruru took this as an opportunity to sneak one of Tororo's pieces off the board.

"He's not serious," the cyborg said with a small roll of his eye.

"I am."

The certainty of his voice made Zoruru turn to look at Taruru, to which Tororo silently plucked a piece from off Zoruru's side.

"You're getting married?" Pururu repeated.

"Yeah, to Karara."

"When did this start happening?" Tororo asked him. With great dexterity Zoruru replaced one of his own pieces back on the board.

"Umm..." Taruru puckered his lips out and stretched his arms behind the back of his head. "An hour ago?"

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not."

"Is this a wise choice, Private?" Garuru asked finally.

"Of course," Taruru shrugged. "She needed to get married anyway, and who better to marry her than her best friend, you know?"

"I see," Garuru muttered. "Very well, then. Congratulations on your engagement, Private."

"Likewise," Pururu smiled sweetly. "When's the wedding?"

"Ehh, a few days from now?"

All of them stared at him at the exact same time.

"She has a tendency to change her mind?" Taruru added pathetically. "It was her dad's idea, not mine, okay?"

"Looks like someone's looking forward to the wedding night," Zoruru quipped.

"We're planning on just ordering pizza, staying up late and then watching a movie," Taruru said with a grin. "So, yeah, I guess you can say we're looking forward to the wedding night."

"Checkmate!" Zoruru and Tororo said in unison. They both looked at the board quizzically and then continued in angry sync, "Hey! No fair! Cheater!"

Taruru rolled his eyes good-naturedly and went over to his room to rest.

* * *

"Tororo? Will you be my best man?"

Tororo jumped, not expecting this at all. He turned around to face Taruru, who was standing at the edge of his door. The tadpole perked a brow. "What?"

"Well, I need a best man, and I don't have one yet, so do you wanna be it?"

"How formal," Tororo commented. He spun his body back to his laptop and stared at the screen. "Um... You seriously want me to be your best man?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Tororo glanced at his own reflection- he actually felt a little touched. "Um, sure... I didn't think I would be your first choice as a best man, but-"

"Oh you weren't the first choice!" the light blue frog assured him. "Master Tamama was the first choice, but he said he didn't want anything to do with me and hung up."

"Wait. I was your second choice then?" The touched-ness went away completely.

"Actually, I asked _Zoruru_ second, but he told me he'd rather amputate the rest of his body instead, sooo..."

"Forget it!" Tororo growled, grumpily folding his arms. "I don't want to do it."

"You don't and I'll tell everyone about your make-out session with Chiroro earlier today~"

The salmon colored Keronian immediately faced him, pale. "I- we- n-no! That didn't happen!"

"Who do you think they're going to believe?" Taruru snickered. "Especially since that chocolate cake incident?"

Tororo grimaced. "You wouldn't dare sink that low."

"If it makes you feel better, Chiroro's going to be the maid of honor," Taruru sang, laughing. "You have to wear black. See ya!"

Tororo started to protest that he wasn't going to do it, but Taruru already left.

* * *

**Author's Note: You may have noticed that I'm not trying too hard here XD If anything, this is more of a guilty pleasure kind of thing where I enjoy writing this too much and don't really care about word count or anything... I think I even got a few OOC moments. Yes, I'm horrible XD Oh, well. Until I get bored with it or until I finish it, enjoy c: **


End file.
